1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to the field of computer networks, and, in particular, to the connection between a user device and a content server. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to an improved method and system for providing accessibility to electronic mail.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Internet comprises a vast network of heterogenous computers and sub-networks all communicating together to allow for global exchange of information. The World Wide Web (WWW) is one of the more popular information services on the Internet. The WWW uses browser software to decipher HyperText links to other documents or files located on remote computers, all of which are connected to the Internet. Browsers provide a user-friendly interface that allows users to easily navigate from site to site or file to file around the Internet. Using a browser, a user can access information in the form of text, audio, video, still pictures and related multimedia stored on remote computers or content servers. In addition, the Internet provides transmission of messages called electronic mail, better known as “e-mail,” service to its users. While some e-mail systems are confined to a single computer system or network, such as a business' intranet, the most popular form of e-mail is through the Internet. Through the use of gateways to other computer systems, the Internet allows users to send and receive electronic mail anywhere in the world.
E-mail servers are found in a variety of servers and services connected to the Internet. The most common e-mail servers are associated with online services that provide their subscribers with a wide variety of data transmitted over telecommunication lines, and Internet Service Providers (ISP), which provide access to the Internet.
FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of the prior art used to access server-based Internet e-mail. A client device 10, such as a desktop computer, laptop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), onboard vehicle computer, cellular telephone, etc., invokes its resident e-mail client application 12 to send a request for e-mail, typically through an ISP, to an Internet mail server 30. Internet mail server 30 will typically have separate servers for sending and receiving e-mail. Usually, client device 10 receives e-mail from a server using Post Office Protocol (POP) or Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), and client device 10 sends e-mail to a server using Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP).
A significant limitation of Internet-based e-mail relates to providing accessibility to handicapped users, including the visually impaired, hearing impaired and physically handicapped. Such accessibility primarily consists of changing the style of the e-mail received, such as changing print font sizes or converting written text to aural speech for the visually impaired. Accessibility features also relate to modifying how information is input into the user's device (such as a computer), to include changing the time delay for auto-repeat functions on a keyboard for users unable to quickly strike keys, changing mouse roller ball sensitivity and other changes to input devices to accommodate physical limitations of the user. Internet accessibility programs have historically been limited to a particular application program or operating system for the client device being used by the handicapped user.
The problem of transcoding for accessibility is complicated if the user of client device 10 sends a request to a secure server. Secure connections in the prior art between a secure Internet mail server 30 and client device 10 establish the requirement that the connection be inaccessible to any third party. A secure Internet mail server 30 supports any of the major security protocols that encrypt and decrypt messages to protect them against third-party tampering. A typical protocol for a secure connection is the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol, which uses a public key, typically a code table, to decipher any coded data. It is understood that the socket of an SSL is typically a software object, not a physical component of a computer system. Thus, accessibility transcoding of content from secure web pages can only be accomplished if the transcoder can communicate between client device 10 and secure Internet mail server 30.
It should therefore be apparent that there exists a need for a universal accessibility system for a handicapped user to access e-mail from any selected mail server 30, secure or non-secure. Such a system should include a user-specific and user-defined transcoding system that includes transcoding operations to provide accessibility to that client user, such as font modification, background displays, etc., that can be delivered to a variety of client devices 10 used by that user. It would further be desirable to devise a computer program product wherein such a method may be performed on a computer system. In addition, it would be desirable to devise a proxy machine having the ability to transcode responses from an Internet mail server 30 to a client device 10 according to user-defined preferences for accessibility.